A kneazle by any other name
by KTtheLuvAddict
Summary: Sirius spends the night in an abandoned shed where he makes an unlikely friend. Oneshot.


**I was extreamly bored today and it was raining outside so I decided it was time to wriote some fanfiction. I am not a slash shipper so if you catch any slashy vibes from this, they were completly unintentional. I always thought it was cute how protective Crookshanks was with Sirius in PoA. It seemed odd to me that he would just automatically start helping some random guy sneek into the castle. I figured they needed a little short story. Sooo...here it is. Crookshanks, Sirius Black and James Potter belong to JK Rowling.**

Rain pounded on the tin roof making it hard to sleep, which was exactly what he wanted. Sirius Black stared blankly up at the ceiling. He counted the grooves in the rusted metal. One…two…three…his eyes drooped shut and his breathing evened. He caught himself and slammed his fist against his forehead. The pain in both his hand and face rocked him away from dreamland. "Stay awake, you idiot!" he warned himself. He kicked the thin filthy blanket off. It didn't warm his freezing limbs anyways and it smelled like gasoline and dead leaves. He had sent an owl to James hours ago. The abandoned muggle shed had seemed a perfect place to wait for James's reply. It had been peaceful, even in the pouring rain…until the cat had shown up. Sirius had always hated cats. It was partly because of instincts and partly because his mother loved them. He grimaced when he heard the cat squeeze through the gap in the shed door. The stupid creature had been running off and returning with some manner of dead rodent for the past hour and a half. At first Sirius had been a bit amused, but that had quickly worn off when he had dozed off and startled himself awake only to find a dead mouse nestled in his black hair. He heard the cat shuffle into the room and hop up onto one of the tool shelves. For a cat it was very clumsy. He could immediately tell when it was above his head. He looked up, unamused, to find its squished orange face peering down at him from a low shelf. Almost against his will, he reached up and scratched it behind the ears.

"What have you brought me this time?" he sighed. "Another dead mole baby?" the cat mewed in response and he could have sworn it sounded a bit like a "No". Sirius rolled his eyes just as someone pulled the shed door open. Before he had time to think one of the most familiar voices he knew spoke.

"Actually, he brought me." Said James Potter, shaking droplets of rain out of his hair. He knelt down next to Sirius and sniffed at Sirius's cloths. Wrinkling his nose he said "You smell like a lawnmower, mate." Sirius grinned and pulled himself to his feet. The two teenagers stared at each other awkwardly for a moment before James stepped forward a hugged Sirius tightly.

"I can't tell you how glad I am that you're alright." He said as soon as Sirius pushed him away embarrassedly. "So what happened? Did she kick you out?" Sirius shook his head and pushed his shaggy hair out of his eyes.

"I kicked myself out." He said proudly. "I decided that enough was enough. It was time for me to choose who side I was on."

"Awww, you chose the good guys?" James said with mock endearment. "I'm so proud of you, ickle Padfoot!" Sirius rolled his eyes and tried to change the subject. He didn't want to talk about his nightmare of a mother, or his little brother who was probably being welcomed into the death eaters as they spoke.

"The cat brought you?" he asked, turning around to spot the creature in question and to avoid James's eyes. James waved his lit wand around the little shed and the caught site of the cats glowing yellow eyes watching them calmly from under the charcoal grill.

"Oy! You!" Sirius said pointing at the cat. "You're not natural!" James laughed and walked towards the grill. He reached down a pulled the cat up by the scruff of its neck. It mewed once in protest, but was cut off as soon as its body became paralyzed. James placed a hand under its rump as he carried it over to Sirius.

"I believe you owe him a thank you." He said, presenting the cat to his friend. Sirius wrinkled his nose, but took the cat into his arms. He scratched it behind the ears and it licked his hand with a sandpaper tongue.

"He hasn't left me alone since I got here. It's like he's attached to me or something." Sirius said in exasperation. James shrugged.

"Maybe he's part kneazle."

"Part what?" Sirius asked.

"Kneazle. It's like a cat only smarter and weirder looking. They can interbreed with cats and the kittens will look like normal cats but be as smart as kneazles." James explained. Sirius looked closely at the cat. It had bright orange fur that was extremely fluffy and stuck up in tufts all over its body.

"I suppose it could be. Do you think it knows what we are?" he asked, peering into the cats bright eyes.

"Well, if it is part kneazle then I'd say yeah. Why else would it have kept you company and known you had owled me?" asked James. Sirius had no answer. He patted it on the head and set it back down on the dirt floor.

"Come on." Said James. "Kneazles live a really long time. Next time you see that cat you could be in a wheelchair." Sirius snorted and followed James out into the rain where two broomsticks and a spare raincoat waited. He snuck one last look back at the cat. It stared at him mischievously and then disappeared back into the shed. Sirius noticed that its back legs seemed bowed a bit. That must have been why it was so clumsy. He smiled and shrugged on the raincoat. Mounting the broom he kicked off and left the little shed and the strange half-breed cat behind.


End file.
